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| Airbrush Makeup in 2025 |
A flurry of social media reels claiming that "airbrush makeup is outdated" were released in the last year or so and have garnered a growing number of reactions. As I publish the latest update of the world's most extensive LINKS DIRECTORY of airbrush makeup brands and services, I am going to address the claims these videos make, and try to examine what motivates their creators.
I am going to get right to the point, and I ask you to consider what I am about to write before deciding for yourself. Imagine having an instrument that automates a process and makes it considerably faster, healthier, more cost effective and infinitely more hygienic than its manual counterpart. What could happen that would make you call that process "outdated" all of a sudden? Applied to communications, a similar mentality would have you declare that smart phones are suddenly old and unnecessary, and that going back to snail mail is a desirable option for all. Would that make any sense? Yet here we are...
In the most recent of these videos, a hitherto scarcely known makeup artist comes out not only blasting airbrush makeup as an "outdated" technique, but also declaring it to be an old fashion marketing ploy used by some makeup artists solely to "up charge their customers". She claims to have been using airbrushing herself "back then", but that now the traditional beauty industry has advanced so much with its products as to render the effort completely useless. There are so many fallacies in her reasoning that I could write an essay, so I will limit myself to the most blatant.
Talking about "airbrushing" as if the technique was a single method, using a single product and allowing a single result is as ill advised and as ignorant as saying that "MAKEUP", without any further specification, achieves this or that result. As you probably know if you reached these pages, there is a small universe of products that are made for airbrushing with very different ingredients and very different results. Some of them (mainly water based) are completely imperceptible on the skin, so they offer the most natural looking and the healthiest correction available, and yes, there is still hardly any traditional product that can achieve the same coverage with as little texture. Others, broadly speaking silicone or alcohol based, create a more perceptible finish that is more similar to the best traditional products out there, but they are 100% water proof, and allow you to achieve what many now call "armoured skin" in one fast step, while delivering a stunning finish.
Stating that airbrushing is just an excuse to "upcharge" customers because traditional products have improved so much, is honestly a ridiculous statement. Most makeup artists I know don't charge anything extra for airbrush makeup, and let's not forget that with so fewer products needed, airbrush actually helps a makeup artist save considerably both in materials, application time, hygiene and sanitization: a single airbrush does the job of many different brushes on different people, and without any need for cleaning, as there is no contact with the skin. I could go on... but I won't.
One is left to wonder why these videos are gathering so much attention. The explanation is twofold. On one hand, social media algorithm loves controversy, so it will "serve" the video to more people the more indignant reactions and comments it receives. On the other hand, this content certainly appeals to people who, having scarce or no education about the subject, feel justified and reassured in their ignorance or their prejudice. There might be a final reason, and that could be the feeling of vindication in hearing that something that was hailed for years as a superior standard is finally getting bashed. That is understandable to a certain degree, but my sympathy ends with the callousness of a fellow MUA who, for no other reason than a few "likes" and a few more followers, is ready to dismiss a whole sector of the beauty industry that is being held up with the personal lifetime efforts (if not sacrifices) of a few courageous independent entrepreneurs and of family operated business that have made airbrushing what it is today, not only in the US, but across the world.
It is these very people that these pages honor and celebrate. Long may they live in prosperity, with our eternal gratitude.
Daniel Pacini
a.k.a. The Airbrush Makeup Guru, International airbrush educator and teacher to more than 800 professional makeup artists.
The writer dedicates this post to Dina Ousley and George Lampman, with endless gratitude and love.
